The third book in the "Diadem: Worlds of Magic" series finds the three
youngsters (Score - from Earth, Helaine - from Ordin, and Pixel - from
Calomir) once again facing dangers from Sarman, whose goal is to rule all of
the Diadem worlds.

For those who have not read the first two books in the series (I really
recommend that you get and read them, however), a short explanation of the
backgrounds of the three heroes might be appropriate.

Score is a street-wise young man from the street of New York. Helaine (who
used the alias of Renald to conceal her gender, and thus hide her interest
in "boy's work" from her disapproving noble father) is a young lady with
desires of being a warrior (and who is a better warrior than many of the
young pages in the castle she grew up in on the planet of Ordin). And
finally, Pixel is a young man with NO experience in the real world before he
started this series of adventures. He grew up on Calomir, where everyone
lives in a virtual existence. He had only just ventured out of his home for
the first time when his life spun out of control and he found himself off
world and fighting for his life.

With each chapter of each book in the series the youngsters learn more about
controlling their magic. They make friends of the most unlikely creatures -
trolls and goblins and unicorns, Oh My! More importantly they learn about
themselves and the power of friendship. Many of the creatures they befriend
have little use for humans, and less for magic users. The youngsters learn
to trust their instincts, and teach others to be more open and trusting.

There are seven books in the series (at least that is how many are listed),
so this book brings us nearly halfway through the series. It will be
interesting to see how this plays out.

The trio defeats Sarman, the source of all their problems, so that should be
the end of it, right? Or was he the real source? It turns out that there
is a source behind the source, and they manage to deal with that. Now their
problems are over right? Don't bet on it.